On Monday, October 20, 2025, the world experienced a massive internet outage that disrupted countless websites, apps, and online services. Major platforms like Snapchat, Duolingo, WhatsApp, ROBLOX, Fortnite, and even Amazon.com were affected, leaving users worldwide frustrated and confused.
The source of the problem was Amazon Web Services (AWS), the backbone of much of the internet’s infrastructure. According to Amazon, the outage was triggered by a rare software bug and a faulty automation process that caused a complex cascading failure within its internal systems.
The issue specifically involved DNS (Domain Name System) often called the internet’s phonebook. DNS helps websites and applications find the correct servers to connect to. When it failed, many services simply couldn’t locate their destinations, resulting in widespread downtime.
The problem also affected AWS’s DynamoDB database service, which many major applications rely on. As a result, disruptions spread quickly across multiple platforms and regions. Early estimates suggest that the outage caused financial losses ranging between $38 million and $581 million, depending on the duration and scope of the impact. In short, one small bug and an automation error were enough to remind the world just how dependent we’ve become on a few critical systems and how fragile the internet can be when they go down.
